Yesterday, a bill aimed at curbing the practice died in the North Dakota state senate. From the Associated Press:

Sen. Tim Mathern’s measure would have cut an exemption commonly used by oil companies claiming an economic hardship of connecting a well to a natural gas pipeline. Oil companies in North Dakota can flare natural gas for a year without paying taxes or royalties on it. After that, companies can request an extension because of the difficulty of connecting the well to a natural gas pipeline. The exemption is nearly always granted by state regulators, who took no position on the legislation.

About one-third of North Dakota’s gas production has been burned off, or “flared,” since the oil boom began about five years ago. Less than 1 percent of natural gas is flared from oil fields nationwide, and less than 3 percent worldwide, according to the U.S. Energy Department’s Energy Information Administration.

Mathern’s argument is that the gas is a missed economic opportunity. Extractors could be selling the wasted gas, increasing supply and lowering prices for consumers. Oh, and the state could be collecting royalties on it, too.

There’s another lesson here. Fracking companies’ inability to connect wells to pipelines is another example of how the energy boom has outpaced the state’s infrastructure. It seems likely, though, that drillers will invest in more pipelines before they’ll invest in ancillary concerns like adequate health care.